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Gluten Intolerance in The Wall Street Journal

On March 15,The Wall Street Journalpublished an article that discusses the complexity, yet growing prevalence of gluten sensitivities. Health Journal columnist Melinda Beck explains that the medical community has begun to acknowledge the existence of gluten intolerance in a new light. A recent study released by BMJ Medicine posits that gluten can cause a negative immune response even for those who have tested negative for Celiac Disease. This news will surely be embraced by patients who suffer from these gluten sensitivities but often do not receive the necessary support from their doctors.

While the study presents important advances in the field, more research is needed on this subject as many questions remain unanswered. For instance, Dr. Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Research and lead author of the study, eventually wants to ascertain a biomarker specifically for gluten intolerance.
In the meantime, the pervasiveness of Celiac Disease, gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy brings a greater awareness of such conditions. So, even though Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center, remarks that the research on gluten sensitivities is where the research on Celiac Disease was 30 years ago, hopefully, with this increased awareness, the necessary research will yield desired results at a quicker pace.
As of now, for those who experience negative reactions to gluten, the best treatment is following agluten free diet. And, as the article mentions, this treatment is becoming less daunting since the gluten free foods market continues to grow.

Do you suffer from gluten intolerance? If so, what have your experiences been in regards to the medical community? And, how do you think this new study will affect the gluten free community?

8 Responses to “Gluten Intolerance in The Wall Street Journal”

Could it be in something they use in "processing" flour? Excessive consumption of starches is beginning to be at the root of so much disease…all of a sudden! Sensitivity issues are cropping up everywhere! Two of my children are suffering with starch related illnesses and are on Low Starch diets. It seems strange that bread, which has been a staple in many, many cultures is now the root cause of so many health issues.
I thought there was a marker for Celic, HLA

In 1994 they diagnosed my niece with Crohns. I took her to my chiropractic prof who had her tested her for food sensitivity. Her GI docs were completely uninterested in her total recovery from that "incurable" disease. We had before & after endoscopic biopsies as proof, and still they didn’t care.

Thank you Maeve for sharing some exciting findings from the biomedical field’s current research on gluten intolerance. Although, I am gluten tolerant, I can certainly empathize with people who struggle with the painful symptoms caused by this elusive condition. I am hopeful that future research will continue to elucidate the biolgoical mechanisms underpinning the immune response symptoms caused by gluten foods and will point to more cost-effective ways of managing them.

So great to see something in the Wall Street Journal about all of us! The world could always use more people who understand Celiacs and gluten sensitivities. It’s often hard to explain what a big deal it is for all of us!

As someone who routinely suffers from indigestion and stomach pain after consuming several pounds of fresh bread, I empathize with others whose physicians continue to diagnose gluttony rather than gluten-free.

The medical community was unable to diagnose my extreme immune system response symptoms as gluten intolerance for twenty years. Instead, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 18 and heavily medicated.

Until the medical community recognizes that pills do not solve problems and move towards diet treatment and correcting vitamin deficiencies, I fear many with gluten intolerance and celiac will go undiagnosed, living in pain, and sick as I did for twenty years.